


Matched

by DemonzDust, xartificialsweetnerx



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Getting Together, Good Theo Raeken, Humor, M/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2019-10-25 23:54:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17735057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemonzDust/pseuds/DemonzDust, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xartificialsweetnerx/pseuds/xartificialsweetnerx
Summary: Valentine’s Day is around the corner and Scott is in charge of his animal shelter’s holiday-themed adoption event. Little does Scott know that his perpetually single existence is preventing his best friend from finally tying the knot with his own match. And as for Theo? Well, he is just plain unable to admit he needs a match of his own.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set in the canon Teen Wolf universe a few years after the series end. Details about the characters' lives will unfold in the narrative. ^_^
> 
> This is our first collaboration fic together and we hope you enjoy!
> 
> -DemonzDust & xartificialsweetnerx
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Lydia peered at her fiancé and his best friend. They were both hunched over the kitchen table, brows scrunched in focus. Stiles was leaning back in his chair, clicking and tapping at his laptop, while Scott sifted through a pile of papers, making notes with a pencil.

They were both working on the same thing, really. Though Scott didn’t know it.

“Okay, so how does this sound…” Scott asked, dropping his pencil down onto the table and picking the lined piece of paper he’d been laboring over.

“ _Name, Mckinsey.”_ he began to read. _“Breed, Pomeranian. Age, twelve months. Likes: long walks and belly rubs. Seeking: Active Forever Home with kids and other pets._ I don’t know where to put that she chews like...everything…”

Before Lydia could answer Stiles interjected.

“Scott, would you say you’re more of a morning person or a late night person?” he asked, not looking up from his laptop.

Scott squinted at him, confused.

“What does that have to do with the banner your working on?” he asked suspiciously.

“Oh, uh, just trying to get your preferences for what kind of graphic look might work best.” Stiles lied.

With a clear view of Stiles’ screen, Lydia knew that he’d finished the banner a while ago. For the last thirty minutes he’d been answering detailed questions about his best friend’s life and preferences on a dating website, occasionally trying to glean information from Scott without his knowledge.

“Scott,” Lydia said, causally sliding in between the pair and picking up a pen. “Maybe you should try writing the dog profiles more like summaries.”

She picked up Scott’s draft, and quickly sketched out the information, before handing it back to him.

The distraction worked.

Forever focused on the needs of anyone but himself, Scott’s attention was easy to redirect back into constructing K-9 profiles for the Valentine's Day Adoption Event he’d been working on for the shelter he volunteered at.\

_Thank you._ Stiles silently mouthed at her while Scott read the new description.

“ _Mckinsey is a quirky girl with soft fluffy fur that loves long walks on the sidewalk and belly rubs. She’s great with children and other dogs. Her ideal Forever Home would be in an active household that doesn’t mind losing the occasional shoe to her small teeth_.” he read.

“Oh, that’s really good. I’d adopt her!”

“You’d adopt all of them, Scotty.” Stiles said, uploading a picture of Scott cuddling a recent rescue to the secret profile.

He’d gotten better at choosing photos of Scott. Stiles first few picks had been horrendous - one of Scott looking uncomfortable in a suit before a benefit, and another that was a sweaty gym selfie he’d sent Stiles as a joke.

_“Girls like that!”_ Stiles had argued. _“They want to see he’s mature - suit pic. And that he’s ripped - gym selfie.”_

“Girls want something _authentic_ .” Lydia had argued back, selecting a casual photo of Scott getting ready for his UC Davis graduation. “Just like _boys_ do.”

Stiles had rolled his eyes, but given in to her better judgement.

A few years back Lydia might have objected to Stiles scheme, but things had reached a point where even she had to admit - Scott needed a push. Stiles had talked to him a dozen times about “getting out there” and meeting people. About how he needed to make sure he built a life for himself that wasn’t just about helping others.

Scott always acted like he was going to listen, and then promptly went back to being absorbed by his school work, his part time job, and his volunteer work. Not to mention continuing his long term commitment as the Alpha of a pack that was now spread out between Beacon Hills and Sacramento, where he was working studiously towards his veterinarian degree.

Although Lydia had come to agree to the plan, she couldn’t help but feel that Stiles was being a bit hypocritical given how stagnant their own relationship had become.

They’d been engaged for two years, but they still had yet to set a date for the actual wedding. Not because they couldn't afford it, they’d put money away over a year ago, but because every time they set a date or agreed on a venue, Stiles would find a problem with it.

“It can’t be in April because it’s my Dad’s birthday and what if we want to take trips on our anniversary? Then I’m a bad son forever.”

“It’s too hot in July, I’ll sweat through my jacket.”

“I like that it’s on a Sunday, but the 19th is bad luck because I lost my lucky Spider-Man socks on a field trip on that day.”

“Nope that’s a year from the date that you found out Jackson was snakey-pants.”

“Too close to the day Scott was bitten.”

Last month they’d gotten as far as booking a venue, but Stiles called and cancelled it just before they sent their _Save The Dates_ to the printers.

_“Lydia it was clearly haunted!” he’d waived his hands around exasperatedly when she’d found out. “I was just double-checking all of their reviews and there was this one that wasn’t sitting well with me about how the chairs weren’t arranged right. So naturally I did my due diligence and found out that the building was owned by this woman who died in the library and her cat ATE HER EYE! That’s the same room that the chairs were arranged.”_

_“Stiles—” she’d tried to object._

_“ATE HER EYE!”_

At that point, she’d given up trying to book venues. Because they both knew that if there were any ghosts, _she_ would have noticed them.

The reason they weren’t getting married wasn’t because of ghost or missing Spider-Man socks from fourth grade. It was because her fiancé obviously had some kind of baggage.

Anyone else might worry that it was doubts about the relationship, but Lydia didn’t. Their relationship had been through so many trials, both mystical and mundane, and they’d always made it through. Stronger and closer than ever.

She’d tried to get him to open up, but that would require Stiles being honest with _himself_ about his own feelings first.

Something that was much easier said than done.

She wanted to get Scott alone to pick his brain, but based off the flow of conversation, it seemed like it was going to be a while.

“So, Scott, you mentioned that there are also going to be forms for the humans at this event?” Stiles asked, closing his laptop momentarily to help set the table.

“Yeah.” Scott nodded. “It’s a matching event, so anyone looking to adopt will fill out an application and questionnaire so we can make potential matches. Then we’re going to introduce them speed dating style and hopefully all the pups will find their Forever Homes.”

Scott was practically glowing as he described the event. Lydia could nearly see the visions of happy dogs in the arms of their new families glimmering in his mind’s eye.

But all Stiles could see was opportunity.

“Okay, awesome.” Stiles said, as he laid out pairs of chopsticks. “So, you’re going to fill out one yourself right?”

“I mean—” Scott looked confused. “No, I can’t adopt a dog right now because my apartment won’t allow it and I can’t afford it.”

“No, not for you to actually adopt a dog, but as an example for other people to look at and help them fill out their own.”

“Oh, I guess I could do that.”

“You should _definitely_ do it.” Stiles said, trying to catch Lydia’s eyes for support. “Right, Lyds?”

Lydia smiled and nodded her head, but flinched internally at his transparentness as she placed a bowl of pad thai on the table and sat down beside him.

“Yeah.” she said, reluctantly. “That sounds like a great idea.”

“Okay, so, Scott, what are you looking for in a long term relationship?” Stiles asked animatedly as he shoveled noodles onto his plate, and then quickly added, “With the dog, I mean.”

_So subtle._

“That’s hard.” Scott said, scrunching his brows together in thought. “I don’t really have a strong breed or a gender preference. Roxy was a terrier mix, so I wouldn’t mind a mutt...”

“Who was Roxy?” Lydia asked.

“His dog from fourth grade.” Stiles answered quickly, and Lydia could tell from his tone that it was a subject that they should probably steer away from.

“Yeah.” Scott said, a sad shadow creeping across his eyes. “My mom got her for me when she knew that her and my dad were getting close to splitting. But she got attacked by a German Shepard and…”

Scott didn’t finished.

Lydia squeezed his his arm gently.

“Okay,” Stiles said, slowly trying to recover the conversation. “So you like terriers and mutts…what about personality?”

“I don’t know,” Scott shrugged. “I’d probably want a dog that just really needed a good home. I know that I could work with one that was struggling and help get it back on track.”

“So a fixer-upper?” Stiles said, raising an eyebrow.

Lydia knew that it wasn’t the kind of answer Stiles was looking for.

“Alright, so one that needs you, and also needs a little bit of care.” Lydia rephrased. “What else? What would make you really happy when you’re with him or her?”

“A good listener, not necessarily in an obedient sort of way but in that kind of way where you’ve just had a really long day and then you come home and they’re there for you.”

Lydia could see Stiles making a mental checklist. _Supportive. Good listener. Understanding._

It was then that it struck her.

The reason that Stiles couldn’t move forward with the wedding wasn’t a hang up of his own.

It was because of _Scott._

Stiles couldn’t leave his best friend behind in life. He couldn’t worry about venues and wedding invitation fonts when his best friend was going to be working eighty-hour weeks and coming home to a crappy empty apartment. Staring up at the ceiling at night.

Utterly _alone._

She glanced from Stiles and then back to Scott.

In a way, it was a relief to finally know what was going on inside her fiancé’s mind. On the other hand, it made Stiles persistence about finding Scott a mate as much about his own happiness as Scott’s. And she wasn’t quite sure how she felt about that.

*     *     *

With Lydia’s help, Scott worked his way through the list of dogs, writing profiles for each one while Stiles cleared the table. Most of them went fairly quickly, but as the list grew shorter he found himself growing more anxious about the bio for one dog in particular.

Rusty was a four-year-old pitbull boxer mix that had been in the shelter for months. Despite being a smart and fast learner, the treatment of his previous owner had left him traumatized and mistrustful of humans as well as other dogs. His brindle coat was marred, missing small sections of fur on his snout and shoulders.

When he’d first been delivered to the shelter he’d bit Scott and tried to bite several others. Not because he was aggressive, simply because he was scared. It had been weeks before he was willing to take food from Scott’s hand, but they had worked up to it.

Rusty often observed other dogs playing and would watch from a distance, his tail wagging nervously. Scott could tell he wanted to join in the play, but when given toys of his own, only looked at them with confusion.

He had everything in him to be a great companion for a patient and understanding owner, but finding such a person was challenging.

Dozens of times Rusty was passed over for dogs that were less reserved and better adjusted.

Scott wanted to take him himself, but that was impossible with his current living situation. Between school and helping to support his mother, his budget just wouldn’t allow for the extra expense. On top of that his building was strict about the no pets policy.  

Rusty hadn’t done well at any of their open-house events, but this one, with the matching component, Scott felt he might actually have a chance. He was going to need a persuasive yet honest biography to get the right person to give him the chance he desperately needed.

“Scott, you look constipated.” Stiles observed as he came back to the table. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s Rusty…” Scott sighed, looking at his unfinished description. “I don’t know what to write…”\

“What, you mean biting people and not being completely house broken aren’t selling points these days?” Stiles quipped.

Lydia narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m _kidding_.” Stiles said quickly, reflexively holding up his hands. “I’m sure you’ll write the slobbery bastard a bleeding heart bio and some unwitting person will—”

“ _Stiles_.” Lydia snapped, taking the paper from Scott’s hands and rapping Stiles over the head with it.

“Ouch!” Stiles exclaimed drastically. “Lydia, Scott is here, do you want to force him to make a complaint for spousal abuse before we’re even married?”

“If we ever _get_ married.” Lydia replied, cooly rolling her eyes.

She said it as if it were a joke, but Scott could hear a small edge to her voice.

It was probably getting about time for him to head home.

*     *     *

“I don’t give a damn what your issues are, Theo. At work you only have two issues: selling clothes and making sure the damn cash register balances.”

“Well in that case, you should be giving me a raise,” Theo objected, struggling to fit the keys into his front door as he juggled a bag of groceries under one arm and pinned his phone to his shoulder with his chin. “Because I sell more clothes than half the staff put together and my register always balances.”

“You do _not_ sell more than the rest of the team.” his manager argued back as the door finally swung open and his bag nearly spilled out onto the floor. “Maybe you did the first few weeks on the job, but now all you do is stare at your damn phone! Your attitude sucks, and if you don’t start changing it I don’t care how many teenage girls think you look cute in the new fall line of jeans — I’m replacing you.”

Theo froze at those words.

He could feel his blood pressure rising. Cruel and biting words burning on the tip of his tongue. He squeezed his eyes shut and ground his teeth. Begged himself not to say them.

He was two months behind in the rent. He needed to keep this job.

“Do you feel me, Theo?”

“Yeah, I feel you.” he said through his gritted teeth.

“So I’m going to see you tomorrow, 8 a.m. for the opening shift with a smile on your face and the usual chip on your shoulder noticeably absent?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

With that Theo hung up, slammed the door shut. He tossed his phone down onto the fold up bed in his living room and left the groceries and keys on the counter on his way to the bathroom where he stood for several moments clutching the sides of the sink, trying to get his hands to stop shaking.

Part of him knew that his manager was right. He certainly hadn’t given his best today, or possibly ever. Helping people with their shopping and pretending to like it should be the easiest job in the world for him, but it just wasn’t.

It felt ridiculous to have to lie to people day in and day out just to be able to afford health insurance so he could spend three nights a week bitching at someone with a PhD about his problems. Especially when the express purpose of their sessions was to condition that very behavior out him.

But the therapy must be working, because every day he became more “honest” with himself, the harder the lies of his daily life were to manage. Lying was becoming exhausting, but that’s what he had to do to keep a job.

He wasn’t normal. He wasn’t undamaged. Unfortunately, being a strange and broken ex-psychopath wasn’t very employable. So he had to keep up the sham, no matter how heavy the mask of normalcy weighed on him.

Because he couldn’t afford to lose another job.

He’d already been fired from two other stores at the Beacon Hills mall. He’d lost his position at Macy’s because he’d been rude to a customer, and then his job at Hollister after refusing his manager’s increasingly sleezy advances during closing shifts.

That had put him behind on his rent, and there were only so many excuses he could make to his landlord before he got evicted. The elderly woman that owned the house had already been forgiving of his earlier lost jobs, but she needed the money and would have to rent her basement out to someone else if he missed another payment.

But his employment options were incredibly limited, because when you removed treachery and murder from his resume, his skill set looked a little lacking.

He was twenty-four and didn’t have a high school diploma much less a college degree. Not because he wasn’t smart. Not because he didn’t like school or wasn’t academically inclined. But simply because his work with the Dread Doctor’s hadn’t resulted in any applicable graduation credits.

He’d searched dozens of times for jobs that he might be qualified for. Lab assistants, sciences internships, things that he knew he was capable of doing. But all of them had paper requirements that he wouldn’t be able to meet without lying.

He’d thought about extorting a fake diploma from a local school, or about just bullshitting his way through an interview, but that would force him into a long-term deception that would conflict with his new found commitment to honesty.

He forced himself to take deep breaths, willed his heart rate to decline.

He was not going to lose this job.

When he finally felt like he could move, he made his way back into the kitchen to slowly put his groceries away. Ingredients for protein shakes, eggs, cheese, discounted meats just barely on the edge of spoiling, and day old bread.

_Still better than starving._

He reminded himself as he put together a meager sandwich.

_Which, if you lose a third fucking job in three months, you definitely will be._

He kicked his shoes off and sat cross-legged on the bed, careful to eat his sandwich over a plate resting on his pillow as he switched on his TV.

There wasn’t anything he wanted to watch, but sometimes he just needed to hear the sound of another person’s voice. TV was familiar to him. It was how he would pass endless lonely hours when there was no one in his life but the Dread Doctors and the occasional pair of fake parents.

And as draining as it was to interact with normal human beings, with normal problems and normal lives...being alone was worse.

As he chewed and switched channels, searching for something mindless and pseudo-entertaining, he found it harder and harder to swallow.

Before he knew it, tears were sliding down his face.

He quickly brushed them aside, placed his plate on the floor and searched through his ruffled blankets for the phone he’d discarded on his way in.

It was pathetic that part of him wished for a crisis, or emergency of some kind so that Scott and his pack would need his help. But it had been months since such a call had come.

Scott had told him that he could call if he needed anything.

If only he had something that he could admit he needed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!!

Theo was going to be late for his therapy session, not because his shift had run overtime, but because it had been so supremely shitty that he’d decided to waste money he didn’t have at Starbucks on a triple iced caramel macchiato. He knew that if he was more than ten minutes late he wouldn’t be allowed in, so he hastily parked his truck in the lot. He was still stowing his keys in his pockets as he pushed into the lobby and knocked right into an arm that was holding a large stack of glossy pink and red papers.

“Shit, sorry.” Theo muttered automatically bending down to help pick up the scattered flyers so distracted that he didn’t even realize he knew the person until their fingers brushed and he met the familiar brown eyes of Scott Mccall. 

*     *     *

Scott blinked. 

It had been months since he’d heard from Theo, and usually when he did it was because there was some kind of crisis. For a moment, Scott was worried that the next thing out of Theo’s mouth would be news of a new threat. It’s usually why Theo showed up. But when he saw the iced coffee in his hand and the American Eagle aviators perched casually on top of his head, he realized this was just a chance meeting.

“Theo?” he asked, his face breaking out into an awkward lopsided grin. It was nice to run into him without it being a life or death situation. “What are you doing here?”

At the question, Scott heard the rhythm of Theo’s heart change and caught the acrid scent of anxiety.

“I — uh…” Theo stuttered, and Scott immediately saw his blunder.

Why else would Theo be in a therapist’s office?

“I’m here hanging up flyers.” Scott said, hurriedly filling the silence so Theo wouldn’t have to answer. “The shelter I work at is doing an Adoption event for Valentine’s Day. How have you been?”

“I’ve been fine.” Theo said, gathering up the last flyer and placing it on the pile in Scott’s hands. “How about you?”

“Busy.” Scott admitted, still feeling like an ass. “Studying for midterm exams. Graduation is right around the corner...”

“Oh.” Theo replied awkwardly. “That’s...that’s good.”

Judging by his restrained replies, Scott could tell there was more to Theo’s living and work situation than he was letting on. He wanted to ask more, but given the circumstances of their meeting, and Theo’s discomfort, he didn’t want to pry and embarrass him farther. 

“I’m sorry, you looked like you were in a rush.” he offered him one of the flyers. “Here, why don’t you take one of these. If you’re free Saturday we could catch up.”

He smiled as Theo took the paper.

“Seriously,” he added, one step out the door. “It’s good seeing you. If you’re too busy Saturday, we can always catch up another time.”

*     *     *

“And then I just stood there, starting at him like an  _ idiot _ .” Theo ranted, ringing his hands together, his latte forgotten on his therapist’s desk. “While he just filled all the gaps in the conversation and invited me to his Valentine’s Day event — yeah did I mention he volunteers at a shelter? Because  _ of course _ he does.”

Theo stared out the window into the parking lot. There was no sign of Scott out there.

He was probably off saving kittens from trees and throwing heartfelt genuine smiles at every schmuck that obviously didn’t have any plans on Saturday.

His therapist seemed oddly silent.

“Um, isn’t it time you asked me some kind of prying question about how this shit makes me feel?”

“Do you want to talk about how that made you feel?”

_ No. _ Theo thought, immediately.

“Like an idiot.” is what he ended up saying after a long pause.

“Why did it make you feel that way?”

Fuck, he should have just complained about how he’d got chewed out by the regional manager for ignoring a gaggle of loud and obnoxious teenage girls there to spend their daddy’s money. .

The scene with Scott was replaying over and over again in his mind’s eye. That invitation. That dumb look.

“Because…” Theo started, unsure of how he would finish the sentence. “Because I just really didn’t want to look like an asshole in front of him. A year ago I could have totally just brushed it off, and not let him see how...rattled I was with him being here, but now, thanks to all this  _ awesome  _ therapy, I couldn’t  _ do _ that.”

“Do you think Scott would judge you for being in therapy?” 

“No, because, again, _ he’s perfect.  _

“I’m sure Scott isn’t perfect. Why do you think that?”

Theo sighed. Tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling.

“Because he tries to be.”

*     *     *

“She’s perfect!” Stiles exclaimed, excitedly. “She is like the _ best  _ girl!”

Lydia narrowed her eyes.

“For Scott, I mean.” he quickly added. “ _ Obviously. _ ”

“Obviously.”

“Oh, come on Lyds!” he sighed. “I’m excited — she really is perfect for him!”

“Mhmm…”

Wow, he really was in the dog house. She was doing the pursed lip thing and everything.

“And _ how _ do you know she’s perfect exactly?” 

“Oh trust me.” Stiles looked down at the picture of the quirky dark-haired girl in question. “She is.”

He looked at Lydia, whom still looked skeptical.

He couldn’t quite understand why she wasn’t as into the whole match-making thing as she’d been a few nights ago, but with a girl this awesome on the line, he wasn’t about to stop and ask her about her change in demeanor.

“How are you going to get her to the event?” Lydia asked. “Like, if you’ve been messaging her as Scott and then you introduce them and Scott has no clue what’s going on...you don’t think that will go badly?”

“No, I came clean in my first message.” Stiles clarified. “I explained that my best friend is awesome but totally hopeless on his own, so I’m stepping up to bat for him. She loved it!”

Lydia’s nose crinkled, as if she still didn’t approve.

“So, getting back to my original question,” she said. “How about October?”

“For our Halloween costumes?”

“For our  _ wedding, _ Stiles!”

“Oh, um…” Stiles thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know...it seems kinda…”

“What?” Lydia snapped. “Too Spooky? Too hot? Too cold? Did you lose your lucky pocket watch that month?”

Stiles was beginning to think that maybe Lydia wasn’t mad at him about his match for Scott afterall.

“Is  _ that  _ it?” Lydia demanded.

“Woah—” Stiles held his hands up. “Maybe we should back up a second…”

“To when? March? Because we can’t  _ have it  _ in March because you don’t want to share it with  _ St. Padraig’s Day _ .”

_ “Lydia,”  _ he drew out her name. “You don’t think that--” 

“Of course not.” she admitted. “But we’ve been at this for over a year. And I just want you to be honest with me about _ why _ you can’t take a look at this calendar and tell me one  _ single _ day that you would be okay with?”

Stiles looked down at the calendar. It was full of days crossed out with pink marker. He flipped to earlier months. Then later months.

No luck.

“Huh…” he muttered.

He’d thought for sure there had been a  _ few _ days that it could have been on.

He’d no sooner flipped back to the month of October than his phone dinged signaling an alert from the dating app. He promptly dropped the calendar, snatching his device up he read the message.

“Oh my God, she said yes!” he exclaimed. “Skyla will be there on Saturday!”

Lydia threw her hands up in the air in exasperation.

*     *     *

“Okay boy, tomorrow is your big day.” Scott said, pouring out a healthy bowl of kibble. “You’ve got to be on your best behavior and show everyone how amazing you really are.”

Rusty wolfed down the food in response, displacing kibble over every side of the bowl as he did.

“Good boy.” Scott cooed, and watched his tail wag appreciatively.

The bowel slid across the floor, knocking into the water dish. Scott sighed and went for the paper towels in the store room.

He was really hoping for a good day tomorrow. With Lydia’s help, he’d been able to write Rusty a fantastic profile, but he was nervous that it wouldn’t be enough. He was confident that every other pet would find a loving home, but he knew that most people looking to adopt would be wary about his breed and history. Not to mention his standoffish demeanor.

As he walked back to Rusty, he found the dog pawing at his ball, still not quite sure what to do with it.

He smiled, content that Rusty would be able to figure it out with enough time.

As he watched, he found himself reminiscing over the events of the day. Running into Theo had been a surprise. He still felt like an ass for questioning him about why he was in a therapist’s office, but seeing him there had been so unexpected.

The last time he’d seen Theo, they’d been trying to locate two middle schoolers, newly turned werewolves that had been caught by some of Monroe’s people. Theo’d lead the pack through old tunnels used by the Dread Doctors so they were able to catch the hunters by surprise.

Theo looked like he was doing well. His clothes were crisp and he’d looked well-rested, albeit a bit rushed. However, Scott knew just how deceiving appearances could be. Theo always looked like he was doing “fine,” and Scott couldn’t help but worry for him. 

He doubted Theo would show up tomorrow, and was fully prepared to follow-up with him. 

Just as soon as he was able to come up with an excuse that felt authentic enough.

Theo was proud, and based off his rush to get away from Scott earlier, he knew that him attending therapy was something that was supposed to be private. The last thing on earth he probably wanted was Scott checking up on him out of pity.

 

*     *     *

Theo stared at the back of his eyelids, trying to focus on the words of the podcast buzzing in his ear so he could let the boring talk about Biggest Science Fails lull him to sleep. But it was no avail.

He hadn’t been able to clear his head since he’d left his therapist’s office. He should have thrown the stupid flyer Scott handed him out the second he’d got it, but for some reason it was laying on his bedside table beside him. It’s glossy surface reflecting light of his phone in the dark room.

He was still slightly humiliated at how flustered and awkward he’d been, and yet, it had still been nice to run into someone that he didn’t hate. He didn’t need to pretend to be normal in front of Scott. Scott already knew just how bad his history was, and still he looked at him like that.

As always, Scott had shown him all of the things that he hated to admit he truly wanted. 

Sighing, he picked up the flyer and looked at it again.

He definitely wasn’t going to show up at the event to talk to Scott like he’d been invited to that would just look so desperate for attention, but...

_ Do you have room in your home and your heart for a four-legged companion that will love you for the rest of their life?  _

_ A friend that will always be there to greet you when you come home with a wagging tail and a cold wet nose to press into your cheek? _

Theo thought about it. He wondered what it would be like to come home to something like that. For weeks he’d been talking to his therapist about how it would be healthy for him to be responsible for someone other than himself.

_ Fill out your profile and this Valentine’s Day you can  find your Perfect Match! _

It was a terrible idea. He wasn’t ready for something like that. He could barely take care of himself much less another living creature.

What if he hurt it? What if the dog could tell there was something wrong with him — just like everyone else?

He knew that his therapist had been pushing him to challenge himself, to try things that felt outside of what he had become accustomed to, but this was way too much.

What kind of profile would he even be able to write, anyway?

He flipped the flyer over and began reading over the questionnaire on the back. Questions that had obviously been written by Scott.

_ Fuck it. _ He thought, sitting up and reaching for a pen.

He would fill out the questions, but he wasn’t going to show them to anyone or go to the damn event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, we're hoping to get the next chapter up soon!
> 
> Please feel free to share thoughts or constructive comments. ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies with how long this one took, thanks for sticking with us!
> 
> We're probably going to bump the total chapter count up to 5 chapters based off our outline. :-)

“Where’s Stiles?” Scott demanded as he shuffled through a stack of questionnaires. “The pre-approved applicants are already meeting with their first round of matches and we’re three people short to man the stations!”

“Three people?” Lydia asked without looking up from her calculations. “And hand me the next batch, I’m ready to match the second waive.”

“Nolan’s in the hospital and Liam’s there with him because he’s got like  noso-soma-phobia-something.”

“Nosocomephobia?”

“Yeah, that.” Scott handed over a fresh stack of humans to be paired up with five potential canines.

“God, he has a phobia for everything.” Lydia sighed, whipping out her phone to text her fiancé for the seventeenth time.

[Lydia]: Where the HELL are you??  
[Lydia]: Scott’s short volunteers and he’s freaking out!   
[Lydia]: This event has been on the calendar for a month!

She didn’t bother to point out that it had been another convenient excuse for them to not get married. 

“Scott, why don’t you just hand me the rest.” she suggested, staring at her phone and waiting fruitlessly for a read receipt. “You can go greet people.”

“Are you sure?” Scott asked, looking over her applications. “You don’t really know the dogs like I do—”

“Scott, this isn’t rocket science. I’ll eliminate matches based off their hard no’s. By the time I’m done, there will probably only be five potential matches left. Trust me, I’ve got this.”

Scott frowned, still unconvinced, but the sound of a family with two small excited children getting out of a car and running towards the pens of puppies gave him all of the incentive he needed to hand over his remaining stack of human candidates.

*     *     *

Theo’s fingers squeezed the driver’s wheel of his truck as he stared at the adoption event from across the street. Half the parking lot was cleared and sectioned off for the event. Pens with dogs under pop-up canopies, all surrounded by potential adopters. He could see Lydia sitting at a folding table sorting through papers and Scott, looking a little stressed but still smiling as he greeted people and took their applications.

There were young couples, families with children, single people that looked responsible and generally well-put together. People that were one thousand percent more qualified and deserving of a dog then he was.

He had talked himself up and then out of going to the event nearly a dozen times since the previous evening. He wanted to call it quits and go home, but he’d wasted gas money on the trip and couldn’t justify buying himself another self-pity latte.

Theo picked up his own pitiful application and frowned at it.

_ This is so stupid. _

He was about to turn key and pull away when there was a light tap on his window.

 

*     *     *

 

“You came!” Scott exclaimed, unable to keep a grin off his face as Theo looked up, slightly startled, from a sheet of paper.

“Uh...yeah…” the he answered, awkwardly stepping out of his car.

Scott had been surprised when he noticed the dark blue pickup truck idling in the parking lot. Theo often showed up just in the nick of time during a crisis, and although this event being under-manned hardly qualified as that, the sight of the familiar vehicle had flooded him with relief.

“Hey, I know I asked you here to hang out, but—” he was about to ask Theo to take one of the stations when he realized what he was holding in his hand. “Wait, you filled out an application?”

Theo’s eyes widened, like a stray animal caught in the headlights.

“That’s great.” Scott quickly supplied, sensing Theo’s hesitation. He could understand why Theo might be apprehensive. Scott had never seen Theo actively seek a connection with someone — animal or otherwise — and given how flustered and embarrassed he’d been when Scott found him on his way to therapy, Scott knew how guarded he could be. “I didn’t realize you lived somewhere that allowed pets.”

The clarification seemed to work, and Theo’s posture relaxed slightly.

“Yeah, I’m renting a basement with yard access.” he said. “The owner doesn’t really care what I do as long as I pay rent, mow the lawn, and don’t play loud music.”

“Awesome.” Scott nodded, taking the application from Theo’s fingers. “Let’s head over, we’re short volunteers and I kinda just abandoned Lydia…”

“You need help?”

Scott smiled with relief.

*     *     *

“Here, Lyds, add this one to the stack.”

Lydia was surprised to hear the stressed edge missing from Scott’s voice, and looked up from her happy set of potential matches. She was even more surprised to see the person standing beside him.

“Theo’s gonna help supervise the match-meetings till Stiles gets here.” Scott went on cheerfully.

“I’m taking Stiles’ spot?” Theo asked, his eyebrows raised.

“I think that’s good idea.” Lydia adds ignoring the smirk in Theo’s voice. 

As punchable as Theo’s usual smug antagonism towards Stiles was, she couldn’t help but think that it’s exactly what he deserved for leaving them high and dry without so much as a text to explain his lateness.

“Great!” Scott said, brightly as he lead Theo towards an unmanned pen. “You can introduce people to Pepper. She’s a quirky shih tzu terrier mix…”

Lydia watched the pair as they walked off. Theo seemed oddly tense, his usual nonchalant ‘I’ve just seen it all’ attitude was coming off even more performative than it usually did. Scott, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. An ear to ear smile plastered across his face, it was the most animated she had seen him in months.

_ Huh. _

She was still observing them when she _ finally _ caught a glance of her fiancé. He was strolling, unhurriedly, towards her with a girl she’d seen only in pictures by his side.

Skyla.

She was taller than Lydia had thought she’d been from her picture. Her loose dark curls practically bounced on her shoulders as she waved her hands in exaggerated motions, entirely engaged in the loud conversation she and Stiles were having as they approached.

“Oh my God, that’s exactly what _ I _ always thought!” Stiles exclaimed. “Episode I, though an abomination for sure, is definitely the best of the prequel trilogy! You’re gonna have to forgive Scott —he’s kinda clueless about all this, I haven’t even gotten him to sit through all of the Empire Strikes back. You’re seriously gonna have to help me enlighten him...”

Oh,  _ no. _

Horror and rage ignited within her like a freshly-cracked molotov cocktail.

_ This  _ was the girl that Stiles had picked for Scott?

A girl that could be his clone in practically every way except for the one notable lack of a Y chromosome.

It was so obviously not going to be a good fit. And the fact that he clearly hadn’t bothered to look at his phone because he was busy gabbing about ‘ _Jar Jar Is A Sith Lord_ ’ conspiracy theories — or whatever the fuck it was he was always going on about — was insult to injury.

“Hey, Lyds!” he chimed, obliviously chipper. “Meet Skyla, she’s the girl that—”

“Hi Skyla.” Lydia said curtly, glaring at Stiles.

The glare didn’t go unnoticed by her fiancé, but Skyla missed it entirely.

“Heya!” she chimed, reaching her hand out to shake Lydia’s.

As she did, Lydia caught a glimpse of a Rebel Alliance tattoo peeking out from under the flannel sleeve that was rolled halfway up her forearms.

_ God, Stiles... _

She smiled and shook Skyla’s hand, trying to remind herself that it wasn’t  _ her  _ fault that Stiles was clueless. She was just a single girl that thought she was getting setup with a cute aspiring veterinarian. An innocent bystander in a greater gambit hosted by the master of meddling.

Her fiancé.

“It’s so nice to meet you.” she forced out. “Stiles, maybe you should go see where Scott needs you.”

“Oh, right!” Stiles said. “I nearly forgot—”

“You _ did  _ forget.” Lydia interjected and gestured over to Pepper’s pen. “Theo was kind enough to fill in for you.”

A petty but satisfying rush of vindication filled her as she watched Stiles face turn.

*     *     *

“Hey, Scott. I think one of Pepper’s matches wants to adopt her.”

Scott looked up from the pair of pomeranian beagle puppies that he was was introducing to an excited pair of sisters.

“Oh, already?” he asked, standing up and rifling through the papers on his clipboard. “Wow, that was really fast. You must be good at this.”

Theo tried to ignore the swelling sensation in his chest at the small praise. It was kind of ridiculous how much he enjoyed a complement. Even ones that weren’t true.

“I literally just stood there and drank a bottle of water.” he laughed. “What do I do now? Is there some extra form that I give them or—”

But he was interrupted before he could finish. 

“Thanks, I’ll take it from here!”  Stiles, seeming to materialize out of nowhere, chirped. 

“Scott, there’s someone that I want you to meet—”

Theo bit down on his lip and tried to swallow the annoyance that brimmed inside him as Stiles stepped almost entirely between him and Scott. He was about to turn on his heel and slip away when he realized that he wasn’t the only one that was perturbed.

“Where were you?” Scott demanded.

Stiles looked taken aback by Scott’s tone.

“I was, um..well, I’m here now so what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is that you should have been here an hour ago.” Scott said. “And it wouldn’t matter that much but Liam is in the hospital—”

“Wait, Liam’s in the hospital?”

“No, his boyfriend is. Liam is just there with him.” Scott corrected. “But that’s not the point. The point is we were short-staffed and these dogs were counting on us.”

“Oh jeez, Scott, you don’t need to be dramatic.”

Theo wasn’t able to hold back a scoff at the irony.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles turned around to face him for the first time. “Are you still here?”

“I’m sorry,” Theo fired back. “You must be confusing me for someone that _ didn’t  _ just cover for your ass.” 

“Okay, guys.” Scott cut in, grabbing Stiles by the back of his t-shirt to tug him back a bit and step between them. “That’s enough. Theo, thanks for stepping in, I really appreciate it. Stiles, I’m glad you’re here. Let’s just try to play nice and get these dogs adopted, okay?”

Theo nodded, curtly. Keeping the fact that he hadn’t  _ ever _ seen Stiles play nice to himself.

“Theo, can you get Pepper leashed up and bring her with the adopters to Lydia?”

He pressed a bright red leash in Theo’s hand, his fingertips brushing his knuckles as his hand pulled away. Not unlike they had in his therapist’s lobby the previous day.

Was it ridiculous that Theo could count all of the times that this had happened in the past year?

It was something that he’d been too embarrassed to talk about, even with his counselor. How he noticed every single time their skin touched. How it was distinctly different from a casual brush with almost anyone else.

Mostly because Theo couldn’t feel seething hate or disgust beneath it. There was only assurance and absolution in Scott’s touch.

“Sure.” Theo said, hoping that Scott — or anyone else for that matter — had missed the way his eyes glanced down when it had happened. “Got it.”   
  


*     *     *

Theo’s hopes were in vein.

Even from halfway across the parking lot, Lydia’s perceptive eyes couldn’t miss a flustered look. She hadn’t been Queen of Beacon Hills High for nothing. If there was a heartbeat faltering in her general vicinity she knew about it.

She was ashamed that in the past, she’d mostly used this super power to wield control over others. She knew exactly what buttons to push with all of her classmates to get the precise reactions she wanted.

Thankfully for Theo, she was no longer that girl.

It was strange to see that type of opening on Theo. In the time that Lydia had known him, she’d never seen him show interest in anyone. Never caught that flicker of vulnerability in his eyes. Theo was good at masking his weaknesses. His emotional armor was so flawless, it practically rivaled Lydia’s own. 

The old Theo would have never been caught off guard like that.

But just like Lydia,  Theo wasn’t the same cold person he’d been in high school  either . Over the past few years, She’d witnessed his personal growth first hand. He had grown into someone the pack could depend on, maybe more importantly someone Scott could depend on.

Was Theo now harboring a secret crush as well?

The thought seemed scandalous, and yet...there it was, right in front of her.

“Hey, Lydia!” Scott interrupted her rumination, approaching her with a broad smile. “We’ve got our first match!”

*     *     *

The next few hours were a blur of excited children, happy couples, and many expertly matched dogs. Scott flitted back and forth between greeting newcomers and matching profiles. As the later hours of the event drew nearer, the stack of applications grew shorter and shorter.

Scott was nearly through the final stack when he came across one with familiar neat and smoothly rendered handwriting.

He glanced over the page to confirm that Theo was fully engaged in introducing a newly-wed couple a hyper pup before focusing back on the sheet.

_ Name: Theo Raeken _

He skipped over the contact information to skim the details of the work and living arrangement. _American Eagle, Sales Associate._ _Renting a basement studio month to month, with yard access._

Theo had written down that he’d been living there for over five months. He frowned, wondering why Theo had never provided him with the address that he’d been living at before this. 

There weren’t any preferences for size or breed, so Scott continued on to the sections he was most interested in: where Theo would describe why he wanted to adopt, and what his ideal pet would be like.

Instead of explaining why he wanted to adopt, Theo only listed why he thought he would make a good pet owner. But his answers were telling all the same.

_ The space is quiet. There won’t be any regular visitors, so no one will bother him/her. _

Scott bit his lip. He would have visited if Theo had ever mentioned where he’d lived.

He glanced up at Theo again, before continuing on to the  _ Ideal Pet _ section.

_ No breed or age preferences. Don't mind if he/she has problems (i.e. aggressive, destructive, needy) I can manage. Affectionate would be nice, but not needed. Happy to take one that's hard to place. _

One line cut deeper in Scott’s chest than the rest.

_ Affectionate would be nice, but not needed. _

He placed the application down on the table and watched Theo try to calm the excited German Shepard that was racing around his pen.

His heart twisted in his chest.

It must have been  _ so hard  _ for Theo to write that. Scott could practically feel where his pen hesitated. The way he agonized to write “affectionate”, and then quickly scribbled in “but not needed”.

He reached for the stack of unmatched dogs, searching for one in particular.

Mac was a sweet and affectionate golden retriever mix. He’d come to the shelter because his family had fallen on hard times and they were no longer able to take care of him. Protective and strong, Mac had a calming, “zen” sort of energy that would make an excellent match for Theo.

He was just playful enough to engage Theo, without overwhelming him.  Mac was eager to find someone in need of all the love he was ready to give.

Mac and Theo would be  _ perfect _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive thoughts & comments are always very much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but thanks for sticking with us! We're going to bump the total chapter count up to 6 because it seems like it'll be a little longer than we expected. Also, if any of our lovely readers are also authors (or artists, or just general sceo fans) **[SceoWeek 2019](https://sceosource.tumblr.com/sceoweek2019)** is going to be running in July, we're going to put the info below. ^_^

Stiles had to admit, the afternoon wasn’t going  _ exactly _ the way he’d planned.

He’d tried to introduce Skyla to Scott three separate times, but each time was thwarted. The first two times the conversation had died miserable and awkwardly, and the third was interrupted by a small dog crisis. It definitely wasn’t Skyla’s fault that it was going so poorly. She easily could propel a conversation forward with hardly any support.

There was only an hour left in the event and Stiles had just barely been able to maneuver things so that Scott and Skyla were working together. And as he watched her help him fill dishes of water with a hose, waving her free hand animatedly in the air as she spoke, he could tell that Scott was barely listening.

He could see Scott’s eyes shifting between the bowls and the crowd, his mouth moving every so often with a distracted “yeah” or “u-huh.” He was so damn focused on the event that he’d hardly even noticed she was there.

Hell, Scott had even talked to  _ Theo _ more than her.

In the brief moment that he’d taken to drink a soda and catch his breath under the shadow of the nearby building, he’d invited Theo to accompany him. That, Stiles had to admit to himself, was probably his fault. Scott had to be nice to Theo because he’d stepped up to the plate when Scott was short on volunteers.

He felt like an asshole for letting his phone die and losing track of time, but he couldn’t let it all be for nothing. 

Skyla was  _ perfect _ for Scott. Scott just needed to see it.

“He’s blowing this and it’s all your scraggly little faults.” he said, smiling down at the pair of terriers playing at his feet. “You’re too cute….you little adorable bastards.”

Peanut Butter and Jelly were just plain lovable. They’d come from separate shelters but bonded fast. Jelly was a straight up hilarious yorkie that snorted continuously when he played, while Peanut Butter, a french bulldog terrier, was just about as sweet a dog as you could imagine. He had half a mind to ask Lydia if they could adopt them both, but she’d made it clear that _ if _ they were adopting a dog, they should start with one.

*     *     *

“And then the funniest thing, happened—”

“Mmmhm.” Scott feigned interest as best he could as he handed Skyla a bucket of water.

She’d been talking about a game, or movie, or something. Scott wasn’t really sure which. He couldn’t understand why Stiles, whom seemed to be genuinely excited by the conversation, had insisted that they pair up to get water while he watched a pen of terrier pups by himself.

“So anyway, I only roll like two successes, but he rolls none and gets an advantage, so like, he uses that—”

Scott felt like his brain was going to melt. His eyes scanned the crowd for his best friend. Finally Stiles looked up.

“Isn’t that funny?” she asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Scott said, forcing a smile awkwardly. “Definitely.”

He glared hard at Stiles, begging for him to read his silent plea. 

_ Please, please, please come offer to help me here…. _

But all Stiles did was wink at him and throw him a smug thumbs up behind Skyla’s back. He turned to Lydia, who was completely engaged with a couple adopting a German Shepard.

“—which reminds me of one of my favorite movies, where—”

Holy shit she was still talking. 

Scott felt like a terrible person for even thinking it, but he literally hadn’t said a word and the conversation was still rocketing forward into other various movies, television shows, or games he hadn’t seen or played...it was like have a conversation with Stiles but if he literally knew  _ nothing  _ about Stiles or anything Stiles liked.

“Oh, sorry Skyla, any chance you could finish filling the buckets?” he interrupted gently, because there was no escaping it. She hardly gave him an opportunity to talk unless it was to answer a rhetorical question to keep her stories going. “I think I need to go sign off on some adoption paperwork.”

*     *     *

“Hey, Lydia?” Scott scratched his head as he approached the adoption table. “Do you know what the hell is wrong with Stiles today?”

_ What isn’t wrong with him today? _

“I don’t know, Scott.” Lydia snipped, snatching the paper up more quickly than she’d intended to. “I don’t really have the time or energy to think about it because it’s like a thousand degrees out here and we just got a new group of people filling out apps. Maybe you two should, like,  _ talk _ or something.

“Wait,  _ I  _ should talk to him?” Scott asked, confused. “I assumed that  _ you guys _ were fighting.”

“We are, but you should  _ still  _ talk to him.” she said pointedly. 

Honestly Lydia would feel guilty for being short with him — Scott was always so patient with everybody — but she was  _ tired _ . And not just because she’d been here since five to help Scott get ready for the event and her hair was starting to stick to her sweaty neck. Scott and Stiles clearly needed to communicate. It wasn’t as if this were the first time their lack of communication had snowballed into a ‘pack’ predicament. 

“Okay.” Scott conceded.

Lydia knew that he’d mistakenly assumed she was asking him to intervene in their couples argument on her behalf. She didn’t bother to correct him. If that’s what it took for him and Stiles to actually  _ talk _ , then so be it. 

“Just let me introduce Theo to a few of his matches first.” Scott said, picking up the paper listing Theo’s matches that Scott had insisted on filling out himself. “And I promise I’ll check in with him.”

*     *     *

Theo slipped his hands casually into the front pockets of his jeans as Scott approached him with a golden retriever latched to his wrist. It was times like these, when his stomach was twisting with tension, that Theo felt the rest of his body go almost completely still. His heartbeat as even and regular as the ticking of a metronome. 

It was a learned, and now automatic, response. One that he had little control over. It was something that he had been struggling to work through with his counselor. As useful as it could be when he needed to keep cool under pressure, he was finding that there were now times when he wished he could be more open. Knowing that he  _ couldn’t _ , that he was forced to look calm and collected even when he wasn’t, often left him feeling trapped in his own body.

In this case, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be able to turn it off. The level of nerves he felt over meeting some stupid dog — that there was no way in _ hell _ he could adopt — was embarrassing. But Scott was also one of the few people that he might actually  _ want  _ to be more open with. 

In the years spent trying to make things right with the pack, Scott was the only one that never once discouraged him. Not even as a joke. Scott wouldn’t see his nervousness as weakness, he’d see it as growth.

Theo was conflicted. Wanting to both show and conceal his feelings at the same time.

As Scott drew closer, he found himself feeling more and more embarrassed by just how much this entire situation was affecting him. The fact that  _ Scott  _ had picked out a dog specifically  _ for him _ intensified both halves of his apprehension.

And he wasn’t even sure  _ why. _

“Theo, meet Mac.” Scott said, grinning broadly as he unhooked his leash. “Mac, say hi to Theo.”

Mac didn’t need to be told twice, he trotted towards him the moment he was unhooked, wagging his tail. 

Theo blinked and looked down at him. Not sure what to do as Mac gently nudged his knee with his nose.

“He wants you to pet him.” Scott said, encouragingly.

_ Right.  _ Theo thought, stupidly.  _ Duh...what the fuck is wrong with me? _

*     *     *

Despite the fact that Theo’s heartbeat was steady and there were no outwards signs of stress on his face, Scott could feel that he was nervous as he bent down and scratched Mac behind the ears.

He felt a dull pang in his chest as he recalled the details of Theo’s application, and realized how truly difficult this must be for him.

_ You’ve got this Theo… _

He waited patiently. Willing to spend the rest of the event here if that’s how long it took for Theo to loosen up. Theo’s wrist was stiff as his fingers uneasily stroked Mac’s golden fur. He was deadly quiet, right up until the moment when Mac licked his cheek.

Scott smiled warmly as Theo’s expression softened. A small chuckle escaped his mouth along with the breath he’d been holding. The tension completely left his shoulders and a smile unconsciously formed on his lips when Mac licked him again. 

Scott couldn’t help the giant dumb grin forming on his own face as the unfolding scene warmed him to his core. 

“He’s a really good listener.” Scott said, crouching down next to the pair.

“He’s a  _ dog _ , Scott.” Theo laughed, deflectively.

The laughter in Theo’s voice was unfamiliar and wonderful. He’d hardly ever heard him take that tone unless it was with some morbid humor to diffuse a charged moment of crisis. It sounded...really nice.

“So what?” Scott fired playfully back at him. “Some dogs won’t give people the time of day.”

“Mmm…” Theo hummed, biting his lip to hold back what Scott hoped was a wider smile.

“He’s already really well-trained.” Scott went on. “He’s not going to get in your face too much if you need space. Just tell him that you need it.”

Theo nodded, absently rubbing Mac’s neck.

“Here…” Scott reached for Theo’s hand and gently guided it to a rough patch of fur beneath the dog’s ear. “See, he likes it…” 

“Y-yeah…” Theo agreed.

Scott was surprised to hear the small stutter in the reply. Theo’s speech was usually impossibly smooth, his manner preternaturally composed.

But it made sense. Scott saw it in the shelter dogs he handled everyday. The ones that had been harshly conditioned into obedience. They had no idea how they were supposed to react when offered any form of kindness, and situations of amity or intimacy made them extremely anxious.

When Theo slowly turned his gaze towards him, Scott could see that same unsureness reflected in his eyes. But he didn’t pull away. 

It was several moments before Scott realized that his hand was still on Theo’s wrist.

“I, uh—” Scott stammered awkwardly, quickly removing his hand as he stood up. “I’ll leave you guys to it then, I...need to go help Lydia with...papers.”

_ With papers?  _

Scott kicked himself for his lame-ass excuse as he walked away, cheeks burning.

What exactly just happened? 

*     *     *

Lydia stared in disbelief, uncertain of what she’d just witnessed.

She almost thought she’d imagined it. That it was some delusion brought on from the exhaustion and dehydration she’d been struggling through for the past hour. But no, her former High School Queen instincts would not allow her to ignore it.

She had definitely just witnessed  _ something _ . And she was reasonably certain that something included a flustered moment between Scott McCall and one of the last people in Beacon Hills that the pack would want to see him with.

She tried to reject the idea.

But why was it so difficult to believe? 

Theo was kind of Scott’s type. Charismatic without being overwhelming. He projected confidence in his abilities but wasn’t so one dimensional that he didn’t have hidden insecurities. Like the hunter who originally stole Scott’s heart he was strong willed and audacious.

Scott had a heart of pure gold. He never gave up on people -- on pack especially and Theo had definitely become at least pack-adjacent in recent years.

Could it work?

If someone had asked her yesterday, Theo would have been one of the last people in Beacon Hills that she would have suspected capable of harboring a secret crush on their alpha. But this was the second time in the past two hours that she’d watched the chimera’s cool exterior become disrupted by Scott’s attention.

She’d never seen Theo interested in anyone. But did that mean that he wasn’t capable of it?

A thousand questions about Theo and his romantic inclinations fired through the banshee’s mind. All of which she needed answers to. 

Could the perfect match for Scott be closer than either her or her wayward fiance had suspected? 

Until now, she’d only considered potential female matches, but maybe that had been a mistake. After all, it wasn’t as if his sexual preferences was something that came up a lot in life or death situations. And just because she’d only ever seen him with female partners prior didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t interested. Scott wasn’t the type to turn his head and gawk or objectify another person’s body (outwardly or inwardly) no matter how hot he found them...it was entirely possible that Lydia had missed this.

But all of that had to wait for the moment.

“Here.” she said, doing her best to ignore the bright red blush on Scott’s cheeks as he approached the table again. “A family is ready to adopt one of the dogs Stiles is watching.”

She pushed the paperwork into his hands.

“Go talk to him.”

*     *     *

Stiles chuckled softly as he watched Peanut Butter and Jelly roll around in the pen, nipping playfully at one another as they knocked into water bowls and other unsuspecting dogs. The image conjured up memories of him and Scott’s time together at Beacon Elementary, most specifically the time they’d accidentally ran Stiles’ toy Bat Mobile into Lydia’s new set of finger paints.

Whoever adopted these two was going to have their hands full.

“Can you get Jelly leashed up?”

Stiles looked up from the pair to see Scott standing over him, smiling broadly, cheeks looking slightly sunburned.

“Huh?” he asked.

“That family over there wants to adopt him.” Scott gestured, and Stiles eyes fell on a family with two excited-looking young children. The parents chatting with Lydia as they filled out paperwork.

“But…” he started, his stomach dropping. “What about Peanut Butter?”

Scott squinted at him.

“What about him?”

“They want to take Jelly, but not Peanut Butter?” Stiles asked, confused about how Scott wasn't seeing this for the catastrophe that it clearly was. “That’s never going to work. I mean, they’re Peanut Butter _and_ _Jelly_. You don’t split up that kind of winning combination!”

“Stiles—”

“How is Jelly going to be able to be happy with his new family if he’s leaving Peanut Butter with no one?” Stiles interjected, already not liking the tone in Scott’s voice.

“I’m sure he’s going to find a home soon too...”

“You don’t know that!” he felt himself raising his voice involuntarily. “Scott, you can’t let this happen! You can’t do that to Peanut Butter!”

“I...what?” Scott stammered, taken slightly a back.

Why did Stiles suddenly feel like crying?

“Stiles, Peanut Butter will be  _ fine _ .” Scott said quietly. “And can you  _ please _ lower your voice?”

“Peanut Butter needs Jelly, Scott!” he whispered, furiously. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing without him, okay? He’s going to be depressed if Jelly just disappears! Who wants a depressed dog? He’s not going to be able to find a home if Jelly isn’t around to draw in the crowd!”

“Stiles, you can’t _ ruin  _ Jelly’s chance for a happy life because Peanut Butter might be a little sad for a little while!” Scott snapped back. “Look, I’m sorry that this is upsetting you, but we can’t really talk about it right now, the family is over there waiting and—”

“Well, we have to talk about it because later will be too late! Jelly will be gone and Peanut Butter will be screwed!”

Scott flinched as Stiles voice echoed uncontrollably across the lot.

“I’m sorry to interrupt but is there a problem?” The gentleman, who Stiles had to assume was the father of the family interested in Jelly, tentatively broached the subject.

Color rose up in Stiles cheeks as he saw the man’s children trailing him, all looking at him like they were about to burst into tears.

“No — No there isn’t a problem.” Scott quickly replied, shooting daggers at Stiles out of the corner of his eye. “Jelly is  _ really excited _ to come live with you guys—” 

“No!” the younger of the two little girls cried out, tears suddenly streaming down her face. “We can’t take him away from his fwiend! Daddy, we can’t!”

The second, older little girl, started sniffing.

“I…” Scott started, mortified. “I’m so sorry. I’m sure we can—”

“Don’t worry, honey.” the mother was now leaning down to comfort her children. “We’re not going to take Jelly away. Why don’t we go look at the the other puppy, the one from before?”

“Yeah, I think that would be for the best at this point.” the man agreed, slightly sour.

Stiles tried to avoid Scott’s furious gaze as they returned Jelly to the pen.

*     *     *

Fifteen minutes later, Scott was watching the family happy climb into their car with their other favorite dog they’d met that day.

Mac.

It wasn’t that Mac  _ wasn’t _ a great fit for them. The kids were just as in love with Mac as they had been with Jelly, and he’d probably be easier on the parents to take care of. But Scott’s heart still sank in his chest as he watched the car pull away with the dog he’d so strongly wanted to see with Theo. 

Theo had gracefully parted with Mac, but that didn’t make it sting any less for Scott.

“Well, at least Peanut Butter is saved.”

Scott felt his fingers curl into fists against his will.

“Peanut Butter didn’t need  _ SAVING _ !”  he shouted, turning furiously to face his “best” friend. 

*     *     *

 Lydia was on the other side of the parking lot, helping Theo and Skyla bring the remaining dogs into the shade of one of the larger buildings when she heard Scott and Stiles voices raise for the second time. She knew they would need a mediator in only a matter of seconds, but her hands were full with three leashes.

“Skyla, don’t tug him like that!” she snapped, distractedly her head whipping back around from the escalating argument to Skyla, who was trying to escort a struggling Rusty to his one and only match. “Just leave him for Scott to —”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Skyla waived a dismissive hand at her as Scott and Stiles voices both now echoed across the parking lot. “I know what I’m doing—”

*     *     *

“You just couldn’t leave it as it was, could you?” Scott accused. “You just always know what’s best for everyone all of the time! Did you ever stop to consider that—”

Scott stopped short, as the sound of Rusty snarling hit his ears.

“Skyla, I said,  _ STOP _ —” Lydia shouted.

He quickly turned his head, just in time to see Rusty’s jaws clamp down on Skyla’s arm and bright red blood blossom across her skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, we'll do our best to get the next chapter up soon. Constructive comments and feedback is always very much appreciated. We tried to give some more Stiles POV this chapter to show where his heart is at, even if his actions are a little misguided. :-)
> 
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	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long this chapter took! We're both excited to be working on this fic again, thanks for sticking around! We're probably going to bump the chapter count up to 7 because we think the story will end up being 7-8 chapters once it's finished.

Scott’s mind was racing as he bandaged Skyla’s bloody hand. Thankfully, it wasn’t that deep. He doubted it would even leave a scar, but that didn’t change the fact that Rusty had _bitten_ someone. And the consequences for that…

“How’s it feel?” Scott forced himself to ask, pushing the thoughts away for the moment.

“It’s not so bad.” Skyla said, waving her uninjured hand expressively. “Honestly, I’ve had worse. This one time—”

Scott tried to listen, but his heart was still pounding in his chest as he glanced at Rusty who was cowering in the corner of the kennel.

“Do you think it will scar?” she asked when he turned back to her. “I kinda hope it will. It would be pretty badass to have a scar from a pitbull attack—”

Scott swallowed. He could feel Stiles eyes on them as he tied off the gauze with a small strip of medical tape.

He couldn't help but wonder why Stiles had brought her here in the first place.

Wasn’t he getting married?

Why was he getting weird date vibes all around this entire thing?

Then it hit him.

Those pointed questions the other night at dinner. The constant needling about if there was anyone he was interested in. The way that Stiles had brought Skyla here, and then repeatedly tried to fix things so that they would be working side by side.

“No, I don’t think it will scar.” he said, offering Skyla a smile— even though smiling was the last thing on earth he felt like doing. “Would you mind waiting here a second? I think I need to go talk to Stiles about…something.”

*     *     *

_Oh Shit.  
_

Stiles gulped as Scott approached him. He could see it in Scott’s eyes. He’d figured it out, and he was _not_ happy.

“Do you want to tell me,” Scott started, his voice in barely more than a furious whisper as he closed the door behind him and secured them both in the office. “Just what the hell you thought was going to happen here today?”

Stiles had to bite his tongue.

He’d been nervous when he saw that the ploy was up, but now that Scott was challenging him on it, he felt his long-bottled up frustration beginning to well up in his chest.

“Oh I don’t know, Scott!” he said, “Maybe I thought I’d get you to stop thinking about homeless dogs for like five seconds!”

Scott narrowed his eyes, but Stiles continued.

“I don’t know if you’ve done the math here, but at the end of the day, each one of these adorable furballs is going to go home to a family, but _you’re_ still gonna be alone! If you gave half as much of a fuck about your own happiness as one of these dogs, then maybe I wouldn’t have to do stupid shit like try to talk you up to the cute girl at the fro-yo place — yeah thanks for blowing that one budd — or bring hot funny girls to your events!”

“Has it occurred to you that maybe this is _none of your business_?” Scott snapped at him. “Like, I can find my own girls! What the hell—I haven’t needed your help getting dates since high school!”

“BRO!” Stiles shouted. “YOU HAVEN’T _DATED_ SINCE HIGH SCHOOL! If you had then I wouldn’t have to go to such lengths just to make sure you don’t sit at home eating microwave mac and cheese by yourself every night for the rest of your life!”

“That’s not the point, Stiles! The point is I don’t need you to decide what _I_ need in _my_ life!”

“Oh yeah! ‘Cause you’re doing so _great_ deciding on your own! Scott, when is that last time you did _anything_ for yourself?”

“Well I’m getting real close to _punching you_ right now.” Scott seethed. “Would that count?”

“Possibly, but we both know you ain’t gonna do it.” Stiles fired back. “Just like you’re not going to put yourself out there because you haven’t since Kira left. She isn’t coming back man!”

He had to stop himself there. Even as angry as he was he wasn’t going to say that next bit: That Scott hadn’t even pursued Kira. She’d pursued him. That Scott hadn’t pursued anyone since Allison had died.

“I’m not still hung up on Kira!” Scott growled. “But it’s not like dating is that freaking easy for me! In case you forgot, I’m a fucking werewolf! That’s not just an inconvenience, it’s a potential life-threatening challenge! How much of an asshole would I be if I tried to drag random people into that?”

“Scott…"

“It doesn’t matter if _you_ think I need to be dating someone right now. I’ll date someone when _I_ think it makes sense.”

“You’ll never do that, though!” Stiles interjected, throwing his hands up in the air. “You just said you can’t meet anyone because of the werewolf thing! There’s not going to be a werewolf cure! And yeah, I hear you, I hear that it’s hard — but you’re just straight up quitting!”

“You don’t get to decide—”

“I’m not deciding, you are!” Stiles raved. “I love you, okay? I think what you’re doing to yourself really sucks. I know you’re not miserable, you’re not crying yourself to sleep at night, you help people and animals, and everyone, and that makes you happy, but like… wouldn’t you rather share that with someone? Like, you know, I do with Lydia?”

“I…” Scott started, but then looked away. Scott sighed and pulled his fingers through his hair, like he was searching for a counter argument, but didn’t have one.

“Look, every day I’m planning my wedding, I’m happy, but then, I start thinking about you and I get this fucking knot in my stomach and lump in my throat and I start feeling sick, it’s like...I just want you to feel that kind of happiness too, and _I know_ you want that too, but I’m worried that you won’t try to get there for yourself.”

“Wait, is _that_ the reason you haven’t set a date for the wedding yet?”

“No!” Stiles objected.

“Stiles, werewolf. Heartbeat. I know your lying.”

Stiles felt himself flush. He hadn’t known that he’d been lying.

“Okay...well, I didn’t think about it, but, yeah, maybe that is part of it.” he admitted. “But that’s not why you should want to find someone! I don’t want you to do this _for m_ e!”

“Oh, believe me, it won’t be.” Scott snipped. “In fact, after today, it’s gonna be a long time before I do anything for you, _period_. Just what made you think I’d be interested in Skyla, anyway?”

“Are you kidding?” Stiles asked, flabbergasted. “She’s _perfect_ for you, man!”

“Stiles, we have _nothing_ in common!”

“What do you mean nothing in common?! You two were 97% match!”

“What the hell are you even _talking_ about?”

Stiles ran a hand down his face. “Okay, so…I may have made you a dating profile?”

“YOU WHAT?!” 

*     *     *

Theo grimaced as he listened to Scott and Stiles’ raised voices. Skyla could probably hear them as well, but thankfully not enough to understand what they were saying. She was busy taking selfies with her bandaged hand and — Theo assumed — adding asinine captions to them.

Lydia was fuming in the corner of the room, staring out the window. Theo could see her perfectly manicured eyebrows twitching every so often as her glossy fingernails drummed the window sill.

Rusty was still whimpering at the sound of the raised voices from the corner of his kennel.

Theo sighed and moved over to the edge of the bars. He slowly crouched down till he was at the frightened dog’s eye level and tried to get a read on him. Up close, Theo could see the scars on his snout and shoulders, the piece of his ear that seemed to be missing, the way he trembled when Theo moved closer.

“Hey, can you slide over?”

Theo frowned, turning to face Skyla.

She had her phone in her hand like she was getting ready to take a picture.

“Um...why?” Theo asked, suspiciously.

“I wanna get a shot of him to upload to my Insta. Like, my Edge of Empire group isn’t gonna believe I got this in a pitbull attack, I need to share proof—”

“I _really_ don’t think that’s a good idea.” Lydia was suddenly right beside them. “Also there are no photos allowed in here.”

Theo was pretty sure that Lydia was just making that up, but he certainly wasn’t going to call her on it.

“Yeah, strict no-photos policy.” he backed her up. “It’s pretty standard for shelters.”

Lydia’s eyes flitted to him, and Theo swore he saw a small flicker of gratitude before she turned back to Skyla.

“So anyway,” Lydia said, smoothly. “I was wondering if you might be able to tell us more about that Star Wars game —I was thinking of joining one.”

Now that was definitely a lie. Talk about taking one for the team.

Skyla’s face lit up and Instagram was completely forgotten.

*     *     *

“I think you’re seriously overreacting here!”

“Overreacting? Stiles, _you_ _impersonated me to catfish your female clone onto a date with me_!!”

“IT WAS FOR A GOOD CAUSE!”

“ _BOUNDARIES_!” Scott found himself sputtering the word, without any explanation attached to it. “For fucks sake, Stiles!”

“Also, did you just say she was my female clone?”

“I don’t even want to get into _that_.” Scott said, waving his hand dismissively at Stiles deflection. “You also just seriously ruined this event. You cost Jelly his new home and now Rusty—”

“Trust me that was for Jelly’s own good—”

“Rusty might have to be put down!” Scott shouted, furious tears started to well up on his eyelashes. “Do you not fucking _get_ that?”

 “I…” Stiles stammered. “Scott, I…”

Scott took a deep breath. He closed his eyes, and quickly swiped the tears from the corners of his eyes. He needed to get a handle on himself. Yes, he was worried, and yes, Stiles was a thousand percent wrong in what he’d done...but Rusty was only partially Stiles fault.

“No, _I’m_ sorry.” he found himself saying, swallowing the lump in his throat. “That’s...I shouldn’t have lost control and started shouting. I should have kept a better eye on Rusty. I...I guess he wasn’t ready. I fucked this up—”

There was a long and potent silence in which Scott could feel Stiles anxiety and agony just as strongly as his own. Stiles slowly inched forward and gently placed his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not your fault, bro.” he said, finally. “If anyone’s guilty of pushing...” he started rubbing the back of his neck, awkwardly. “It’s me. If I hadn’t brought her here in the first place…” he trailed off again.

“No, it’s not all on you.” Scott said, seriously. “Like, yeah, you shouldn’t have done basically _any_ of the shit that you did, but Rusty isn’t your fault. I just...”

Scott struggled to get the words out.

“I know, buddy. You just really wanted him to find a home.”

Scott nodded, biting his lip and fighting back another rush of tears.

*     *     *

Theo and Lydia had just managed to show Skyla out the door and into her Uber when they both heard the turn of Scott and Stiles conversation. Theo’s eyes turned towards the pitbull cowering in the corner while Lydia sighed and looked over at the pair of homeless terriers that her fiancé had just screwed over.

“No offense, but your fiance is an idiot.”

“None taken.” Lydia sighed, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Today, it wasn’t exactly his _finest_ hour.”

“Do you really think they’ll have to put the dog down?” Theo asked.

“God, I hope not.” Lydia said, “Scott’s been working with him for months. He’ll be _devastated_.”

Theo frowned, moving closer to Rusty’s stall.

“I think he’s just scared.” he observed.

Lydia forced herself to look away from Jelly —who was currently gnawing affectionately on Peanut Butter’s ear.

“Rusty came from a pretty bad place…” Lydia said quietly.

Theo nodded somberly, and Lydia couldn't help but wonder if Theo was drawing a parallel between himself and the dog in question.

*     *     *

“But...there’s hardly any chance of anyone adopting him now.” Scott couldn’t stop himself choking up. “And I can’t knowingly send him to a home where he might hurt someone. He’s a big, strong, dog. We got lucky with Skyla today—”

Scott stopped as the office door creaked open and Theo’s head poked in.

“Hey,” he started, nervously, “we got rid of Skyla if you guys wanna talk out here.”

“Thanks, Theo.” Scott said somberly. “We were done in here, anyway…”

Scott knew he should avoid looking in Rusty’s direction as he and Stiles followed Theo out of the office, but his eyes instinctively traveled to the trembling pup before he could stop himself.

“It’s gonna be okay, buddy…” he whispered, even though he had no real confidence in the matter.

He stared at him sadly, as he listened to Stiles and Lydia talk behind him.

“Okay, Lyds, time for some damage control.”

“Stiles,” her deadpan voice responded. “We’ve _been_ doing damage control.”

“Yeah,” Theo chimed in, “We just listened to fifteen ear-bleeding minutes of dribble about X-wings and like...dice or something.”

“Oh my God, Theo.” Stiles said, and Scott could practically hear him rolling his eyes. “You don’t know what an RPGs is? And here I thought you couldn’t _possibly_ get any worse…”

“Yeah, surprisingly the Dread Doctors weren’t very big on board games.” Theo quipped, and Scott could hear the irritation rising in his voice when he dryly added, “Well, unless you count _Operation_.”

“Enough.” Lydia cut in. “Stiles, why don’t you help me fill out this paperwork?”

“What for?”

“For the dogs that we’re adopting, obviously.”

At that Scott turned to face them.

“Dogs?” Stiles repeated, his eyes going wide. “Like, dogs _plural_? As in two dogs? That go together like—”

“Yes, Stiles exactly like that.” she answered finishing his sentence.

Scott couldn’t help but smile a little as Stiles enthusiastically followed Lydia back into the office like an excited child. To be honest, he hadn’t really wanted to see the two furry friends to be separated either.

“So…” Theo started awkwardly, moving beside Scott to watch Rusty. “I heard you and Stiles talking in there.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “I’m sorry about that. And for like, everything. Today was a real mess.”

There was an uncharacteristic tension in Theo’s shoulders as the chimera slipped his hands into his pockets and continued to eye Rusty.

Dammit, Scott had wanted to see Mac go home with Theo _so badly…  
_

“Nah, I work in retail.” Theo shrugged the apology off. “I got my ass pinched by a fourteen year old girl yesterday. This wasn’t even the worst day I had this week.”

Scott let out an amused but sad laugh.

“I, uh…” Theo started again, his feet shifting slightly. “I was thinking, Skyla probably isn’t going to press charges, and I was still kind of interested in adopting a dog…I could take him, you know?”

“Theo…” Scott, whispered, surprised and touched by the gesture. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah,” Theo replied. “I mean, it’s not like he’s gonna be able to hurt me.”

That answer gave Scott pause.

Scott had picked Mac for Theo because he was openly loving and affectionate. The kind of dog that might give him the free and unconditional love that he had been starved for since childhood but would never be able to openly ask for.

He was sure Theo would be able to give Rusty the space and low-pressure environment that he needed, but he wasn’t sure Rusty would be able to do the same for Theo.

“You’ve got a full time job, are you sure you’re up for all of the added responsibility?” he ended up asking. “He’s not going to be able to play with you the way another dog might. He’s going to need his space, and he’s got a lot of issues...like he gets nervous and might chew everything in your house.”

“I don’t really have anything worth destroying.” Theo said, casually. “Seriously, my apartment has like two pieces of furniture and they’re both pieces of crap from Ikea. The futon hasn’t folded up right once since I got it, and the TV stand was missing a bunch of holes for screws so it’s missing all it’s shelves. If he wrecks them he’ll be doing me a favor.”

Scott couldn’t help but authentically chuckle at Theo’s ambivalence, but he was still concerned.

“I mean, if you think I wouldn’t be a good fit though…” Theo started, but Scott interrupted him again.

“No, I really think you would.” Scott said quickly. “I know you’d be able to work with him, and he’d be safe with you.”

“But?”

“But what if he bites you?” Scott found himself asking.

“Scott, are you serious? We’ve been over this already.” Theo raised an eyebrow. “He can’t hurt me.”

“Not all wounds are physical, Theo.”

“So you think…” Theo asked, incredulously. “Rusty will…hurt my _feelings_?”

Heat flared across Scott’s cheeks.

“Well...when you put it like that…” he laughed, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

But it was true. That was _exactly_ what he was worried about.

“Look, Scott, it’s not that I don’t appreciate the concern but you don’t have to worry about any of that.” Theo said. “He had a rough go of it right? Well...I kinda know what that’s like. So if he bites me, I think I can handle it.”

Scott bit his lip. Theo might be willing to dismiss the potential emotional impact that having a difficult pet would have on him, but Scott was less willing to do so. At the same time, Theo’s  insistence was persuasive and Scott didn’t want to discourage the empathy that he’d just expressed...maybe Theo and Rusty would be able to help one another?

“Okay, you’ve convinced me.” Scott said with a smile. “But this is your first dog, right? Why don’t you start out fostering, see how it goes for a few weeks, and if you still really want to move forward, we can finalize it.”

Theo nodded.

“I can do that.”

*     *     *

“So how mad will you be if I tell you that I’m sorry for everything I did today, but also not sorry, because I’m going home with the girl of my dreams and two new beautiful baby boys?”

Lydia let out a deep and exasperated sigh, but felt a smile forming on her lips in spite of herself. She could never really stay mad at Stiles. And she found it especially difficult to do so when he was happily holding their two new “babies” to his chest

“You’re incorrigible.” she muttered, pulling Jelly into her arms and nuzzling the Yorkie's nose before helping him into his brand new travel carrier in the backseat of her car.

“Hey so, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about our wedding.” Stiles said, struggling to get the top of Peanut Butter’s case closed. “Scott said something, and it really got me thinking…”

“Finally!”

“Hey, sincere conversations are difficult for me!” Stiles objected, “Don’t tempt me into sarcasm! But anyway...do you think that maybe I’ve been putting off the wedding because I’m worried about Scott?

“Well, let me put it this way I haven’t n _ot_ thought that.”  Lydia quipped, “But I’m glad that you’ve finally caught up with me.”

“So...I’m going to stop doing that.” Stiles went on. “And, I think it goes without saying that I need to find a way to make up for today to Scott...”

“You really crossed a line.” she agreed.

“Yeah, I know.” Stiles nodded, finally clipping the locks closed on Peanut Butter’s carrier. “But also, is there anything I can do to make this up to you?”

“Well, you could let me name our dogs Dolce and Gabbana.”

Stiles jaw dropped open, and Lydia grinned evilly.

She had no intention of renaming their terriers, but she definitely was not above letting Stiles think that she would for at least the duration of the car ride back to their apartment.

*     *     *

Theo was more confident than he expected to be as Scott helped him leash up Rusty and take him to his truck. Maybe it was the fact that he was taking a dog with no where else to go, or maybe it was the warm and gentle way Scott helped him calm Rusty and make their awkward introduction...but he was feeling less anxious than he had in months.

“So, you got this?” Scott asked as Theo climbed into the cab of his truck.

“Yeah, pretty sure I do.” Theo said, closing the door and looking at Scott through the open window. “We’re good, right Rust?”

Rusty growled at him.

“See,” Theo said, smirking. “We are already on the same page.”

Scott nodded and laughed. Theo was about to start the engine when Scott placed his hand on the roof of the car and leaned in through the window to catch his eyes.

Theo felt himself suck in a short breath involuntarily as Scott’s eyes were suddenly much closer to him than he expected.

“You know you can call me if you need anything right?”

“Ri-right.” Theo said.

Fuck, why had he stuttered?

“Like, seriously, I’m happy to come over.” Scott reiterated, before pulling back. “Just let me know.”

“Y-yeah.” Theo agreed. “Got it.”

With that Scott waved a quick goodbye and walked over to his parked bike.

Theo bit his lip, entirely uncomfortable with the feelings that were rippling through his chest as he watched Scott mount the motorcycle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Constructive comments are always welcome and appreciated. :-)


End file.
